Thanks for taking the time to visit Geoff and Gary's JustGiving page.

In March 2011, just after Gary moved to Cape Town, he and I decided to do the Cape Argus Cycle Tour. It's an annual 109 km event, starting and finishing in Cape Town. With as many as 35,000 cyclists taking part, it's the world's largest individually timed cycle race. That first year with practically no training we were overtaken by a pantomime cow on a tandem and a guy on a 28-inch off-road unicycle, but we finished the race without a single stop. More accurately *I* didn't stop once, but Gary did - to wait for me at the top of the two biggest hills, bless him. :)

In 2012, having both bought proper road bikes and after a reasonable amount of training, we shaved more than a quarter off our times to come in just a little over 4 hours - see the attached photo!

Last year I was sadly unable to get down to South Africa, so Gary had to do the race alone - coming in at under 4 hours.

This year I've barely been able to practice due to awful European weather, hectic travel and a bout of illness, so trying to smash our record was a little optimistic. But as some of you know, last April I bought a Brompton folding bike for my commuting around London, and I've barely been seen off it since. It's the perfect bike, provided you only need to ride a couple of miles. So why on Earth we decided that this year it would be a good idea to tackle the Argus on a pair of folding commuter bikes, I cannot fathom. Gary managed to borrow one from a lovely chap in Cape Town, and so here we are - less than two weeks before the event, and wondering what the hell got us to this point.

With our lack of training, and the Brompton's acceptable-on-the-flat-but-don't-even-look-at-a-hill gearing, about the only thing that's going to get us through this mountainous course alive is if we feel like we absolutely CANNOT fail, and the way to make that happen is for you to guilt us into finishing by donating some cash to the charity Gary and I have chosen to support: http://www.masicorp.org.

MasiCorp is a charity that works in the township of Masiphumelele, near Cape Town. It's on the route the Argus race takes, and as we pass we can't wait to see the smiling, cheering faces of the kids who have ventured out to watch the daft foreigners cycling through the midday sun.

Masiphumelele is home to more than 38,000 people, most living in shacks, with six families or more sharing one water tap and toilet facility. Although roughly 70% of residents have no regular work, ‘Masiphumelele’ is the Xhosa word that means ‘We will succeed!’

MasiCorp seeks to give residents a hand-up not a handout, and is focused on education as the route out of poverty. So if you are able to support the great work that they do - and ensure that we cannot let ourselves fail to finish the race, despite our lack of preparation - please do so!

Many thanks from Geoff and Gary